September

Dr. Abigail Disney to Discuss 'Women, War & Peace' at SHU

News Story: September 1, 2011

Dr. Abigail Disney

Award-winning filmmaker and philanthropist, Dr. Abigail E. Disney, will be spending the evening of Monday, October 3 with the Sacred Heart University community to discuss and view her upcoming provocative and courageous PBS mini-series, Women, War & Peace.

Followed by a roundtable discussion with students and faculty, there will be a special screening of Women, War & Peace at 7pm in University Commons, with a Q&A period to follow. The program is part of The Human Journey Colloquia Series.

The new groundbreaking five-part series focuses on women’s roles in several war zones throughout the world including Bosnia, Afghanistan, Columbia and Liberia. The film, which is narrated by Matt Damon, Tilda Swinton, Geena Davis and Alfre Woodard, discusses how more and more women are placing themselves in the center of conflict, security and reworking our current understanding of modern warfare.

Among the women featured in the film are Afghan women’s rights activists who risk everything, including their lives, to make sure that women have a say in peace talks with the Taliban and a daring Bosnian woman who breaks her silence and testifies about rape and sexual enslavement. The film is a co-production of THIRTEEN and Fork Films.

Dr. Disney, along with her husband, Pierre Hauser, co-founded the Daphne Foundation, which works with low-income communities in New York City. Her work in philanthropy, women’s engagement and leadership, and conflict resolution has earned her the Epic Award from the White House Project, the Changing the Landscape for Women Award from the Center for the Advancement of Women, and the prestigious International Advocate for Peace Award from the Cardozo Law School’s Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution. In addition, Abigail holds degrees from Yale, Stanford, and Columbia.

Dr. Disney is the daughter of Roy E. Disney and granddaughter of Roy O. Disney, co-founder of The Walt Disney Company with his brother Walt Disney, and she lives in New York City with her husband and four children.

The event is free and open to the public. Media coverage is welcomed. Please contact Funda Alp at 203-396-8241 or alpf@sacredheart.edu for further information.